Racing to Christmas, November 16, 2014

I've seen several houses with Christmas lights and exterior decorations already, about two-ish weeks before Thanksgiving. As a cradle Episcopalian, reared by an absolute martinet of a rector who insisted we call The Big Green Fir our "Advent tree," I was at first tempted to roll my eyes and dismiss it as too much, too soon. But I got to thinking--what ARE those people doing?

 And the answer seemed fairly simple; I suspect they are reaching for joy, for "peace on earth, goodwill to all" and all the other promises of Christmas. And on reflection, how bad is that? What if they expect this to be Grandma's last Christmas? What if they want to greet a returning service member with longed-for lights and tinsel and an (admittedly Godawful) inflatable Rudolph on the lawn? What if they just became foster parents to grossly neglected kids who've never had a Christmas? If those folks are trying to reach out for festivity and warmth, to spread cheer, to ring in the merriment and jollity a little sooner than most of us, what harm is done?

 So I decided to grab a little of the joy and anticipation from their stuff and not feel all rushed and snarky about it. Decorating houses "too soon" suddenly feels different to me, and it's a world away from the vast commercial grab that's attempting to drown us all. Just a thought.